Jack Shafer Reviews the Wall Street Journal Book Review

Journalism watchdog Jack Shafer reviewed the inaugural edition of The Wall Street Journal‘s new standalone book review section.

Earlier this month, we linked to a Media Matters report that studied the newspaper’s record of disclosure when reviewing titles from HarperCollins, Fox News affiliates, or other News Corp.-related parties.

Here’s an excerpt, and we’ve added some hyperlinks to help you explore: “‘Review’ has recruited name-brand writers for its first issue. There’s Kwame Anthony Appiah on how to deal with ‘honor killers,’ James Grant on what a terrible economist John Kenneth Galbraith was, a Matt Ridley column on the science of human nature, a Gregg Easterbrook book review, a humor column by Joe Queenan, a “Commerce & Culture” column by Virginia Postrel, and a lead essay about geniuses and tinkering by Steven Johnson. Often, the big names brought in to help start a new publication or revamp an old one are there for their marquee value only and turn in crap copy. Not here.”

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